Valve-lift-control device for fuel-injecting valves



I June 3,1930. GROFF 1,761,122

VALVE LIFT CONTROL DEVICE FOR FUEL INJECTING VALVES Original Filed March 26, 1927 1 'INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented June .1930

UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcr.

:rosnrn o. snort, 0.1 .ALLENrown, 'r'nnnsvnvnm vALvE-Lmr-con'mor. DEVICE ron runn-mmc'rnv'e VALVES Original application filed March 26, 1927, Serial 110,178,537. Divided and this application filed latch 27,

- 1928. Serial No. 265,092.

The present invention relates to fuel-injecting valves for internal combustion engines' of the fuel injection type and more particularlyto improvements in devices of 5 this character which are adapted to efiect airless injection .of'the fuel and which are adapted to function automatically without mechanical operating means other than a re-' motely located fuel supply pump.

This application constitutesa division of my co-pendin application, Serial Number 178,537 filed archQfi, 1927.

Previous devices of this character, particularly those employing a needle valve of the outwardly (from the combustion chamber) opening typeand which is adapted to be raised from its seat into its open position by the pressure action of the fuel upon exposed portions of its lateral section, have experienced certain objectionable characteristics.

For example, with such previous devices extreme. difliculty'ihas been experienced in satisfactorily eliminating the objectionable feature of valve dribble. Previous attempts to correct one of the principal causes for the occurrence of such valve dribble, namely, excessive extent of lift of the valve from off its seat, have been accompanied by certain ob-i 3o jectionableresultslv Thus, with such previous attempts tore-' strict the extent of the lift of self-opening spring loaded injecting valves, difficulty has been experienced inpreventing the springs from fracturing themselves after varying and uncertain periods of operation.- Also, such previous devices for restricting the lift of fuel injecting valves of the automatic nee e type have been operation. The present invention has for its objects the provision of novel means for restricting the extent of lift of a'fuel injecting valve of.

the needle and automatic airless injection 4st objectionably noisy in:

e. 7 urther objects of the present invention reside injthe provision of means for providing a film or cushion of oil to receive'the impact of the valve member as its extent oflift' is restricted.

According stemlikeportion 148 ojfan outwardly (away and variable changes in temperature of the valve parts.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of novel manually manipulative means for adjusting the extent of restriction ofthe valve lift.

' Further and more detailed objects and advantages of the present invention 'willbe hereinafter pointed out in the laccompanying specification and claims, and shown 1nthe drawings which, way of illustration,- show what I now consider preferred embodi ments of my invention.-

In the drawings:, 7

The figure shows a longitudinal cross "sectional view of my improved fuel injecting device. v v

to the present invention/the from the combustion space 103 asformed by the concave surface of wall structure. 102) opening fuel-injecting valve 134, which is of the so-called needle non-return type, is adapted'to reciprocate within. any suitable stationary, though axially adjustable, abutting andrestraining member such as sleevelike member 101.- Valve 134 is.held tightly shown'in Fig. 1) by any suitable means such ,as by the downwardcompressive effect of any suitable spring 91,

against its seat 92 in its closed position (as Preferably, *said stem portion 148 is I adapted ter reciprocate inside of I sleevelike member 101 with a closely machined sliding fit to thus effect a fluid-tight sliding joint without using elastic packing means to pre vent leakage of'fuel'oil therebetwee "Similarly, leakage of liquid fuelpast t e outside portion of said. sleeve member 101 is preferably prevented by itsefiecting a carefully machined sliding fit with any suitable boredout portion of body member. 98.

Sleeve member 101 is adapted namrigidtagainst am'al movement with respect 7 tobody member 98 by any suitable means such as the screw-threaded connection 132. I

. support and of abutting contact of the varip and a ainst bottom end 133 of sleeve member ous interacting valve parts 92,132, 133 and 134 are substantially axially-coincident, the objectionable eifects of differential expansion caused by unavoidable changes and differencesin temperature of said interacting valve parts, which have heretofore caused objectionable variation in the axial working clearances between said parts, may be eliminated.

In operation, sleeve member 101 is preferably adjusted to have some definite predetermined axial position with respect to body member 98 and such adjustments may be effected by any suitable means such as by the manually-manipulative quadrant lever. '99. Thus, circular movement of radial arm 99 acts to axially advance or retard sleeve member 101 in accordance with the pitch ofthreaded connection 132. I prefer to screw sleeve member 101 down towardsthe valve seat 92 until the resultant axial clearance 131, between valve 134, when the latter is in its closed position on seat 92, and the bottom annular end portion 133 of sleeve member 101, is comparatively small in extent.

' Accordingly, the axial lift of valve 134 may be restricted to have any extremely small extent of travel, such as is indicated by 131, and said extent of lift may be adjusted at will while the valve islin operation by merely changing the axial position of sleeve 101 as previously describe Upon and by the initial supplying of liquid fuel to'my injecting device, from any suitable fuel supplying means not shown in the drawings, the liquid thereby supplied via pipe 29 and any suitable passage 136 acts as 'a pressure medium to exert an upward and valve-opening force upon the aforementioned valve member 134. That is to say, such liquid pressuremedium initially acts upward on an exposed lateral region of valve 134 which has a lateral effective areasubstantially equivalent to the lateral area of stem 148 less the area of a circle the diameter of which is substantially the mean diameter of valve seat 92. 7 Subsequently however, with valve 134 once initially raised oif its seat. 92 itis held open 101 with an upward force determined bycaction of the pressuremedium against an effective lateral section which is equivalent in area to the lateral area, of stem 148.

It should be understood, that a considerable pressure'r must be exerted upon the entrapped liquid fuel in order to inject necessarily fast moving jets 94 of fuel into the I combustion space 103 via the small sized spray nozzles 93 and in the short period of time available. In other words, supply pipe 29, passage 136 and the interior passage space just adjacent to the spray nozzles 93 are exposed to relatively high pressure action by the spring-loaded needle type valves, which are automatically opened by pressure action from a remotely located fuel supplying pump, have been previously used for the purpose of effecting airless fuel injection. However, such previous devices have experienced considerable objectionable operating difiiculties and this has been largely due to their improper construction. For example, with such previous devices excessive smoking of the exhaust gases has been experienced, there has been formed objectionable deposit of carbon in the combustion spaces and in and around the outside of the fuel spray nozzles. It should be understood that such objectionable performance is principally caused by passage of a portion of the charge of injected fuel through said spray nozzles with insufl'icient velocity to properly atomize and remove the fuel from the region of said nozzles. Such improper passage of the fuel through the sp,ray nozzles is better known as valve dribble Furthermore, such previous injection-valve devices have failed to provide means for properly controlling the opening and closing op-' erations of the valve member such as 134. That is to say, previous attempts to restrict the extent of valve opening, which restriction of lift constitutes one of the most important provisions to prevent the aforementioned objectionable valve-dribble effects, .have been accompanied by uncertain performance and by erratic failure of the spring (such as 91) used to close and seat the valve (suchas 134) p Also, as previously mentioned, such previous devices have been noisy in operation.

Referring to Fig. 1, it' will be seen that I provide novel-cushioning means for automatically protecting the various zvalve arts 133, 101 and'134 against the objectiona le effects heretofore experienced. Thus, the aforementioned initial supplying of fuel causes valve member 134 to move upwards with considerable velocity until 134 abuts against annular seat 133 of sleeve 101. However, with my novel construction, whereby the interacting and abutting arts are at all times immersed in the liquid el, which necessarily fills the valve passages, a layer or cushion of suchoil is always interposed between said abutting parts. Thus, while effectively restrictin the lift of valve 134, the construction of s eeve member 101 also prevents too sudden deceleration of said valve 134 and of spring'91 to thus eliminate objectionable noise and to thus'prevent harmful vibratory effects being imparted to said spring 91. L

The importance of so properly restricting the extent of lift of an automatic airless fuel injecting valve may be better understood by saymg:

(a) That the fuel supply pump (not shown in the drawings) supplies fuel to the passages of the injection valve'at a certain given rate ing delivered thereto and, naturally, injection of the. fuel into combustion space 103 commences via said nozzles 93 upon and subsequent to said initial exposure.

- (d) That the velocity of the fuel so initially injected is determined by, and therefore is not at its desired maximum value during, the opening movement of valve 134.. That is to say, during the 0 ening action of valve 134, a portion of the uel so initially supplied by the pump must go to fill up the space create by the upward receding movement of said valve 134.

/ (e) That, during such opening and upward receding movement of valve 134, which continues until the valve comes to rest against restraining means such as annular seat 133, the velocity of passage of the fuel through spray nozzles is comparatively low. That is to say, the spray nozzles are initially subjected to a reduced fuel pressure during opening movement ofvalve 134, which pressure is substantially equivalent to the reduced pressure necessary to overcome the downward 'compressive force of spring 91 upon valve 134. This has to be else the valve 134 would not open automatically without use of excessive fuel pressures.

(7) That suchreduced rate of spray nozzle velocity continues until the opening nfovement of valve 134 ceases, at which time the entire desired rate of spray nozzle velocity is secured and continues up until substantially the instant that supplying of the fuel via pipe 29 ceases.

(g) That, upon such cessation "of fuel supply via pipe-29, the fuel pressure in passage 136 drops somewhat abruptly.

(h) Thatfduring and immediately subsequent to such cessation of fuel supply via pipe 29, fuel continues to pass through nozzles 93, but with objectionab y diminishing velocity, until spring 91 has finally forced valve 134 onto its seat 92. That is to say, such downwardly closing movement of valve 134 involves the displacement of a portion'ofthe liquid fuel in the passage-space adjacent to seat 92 and the fuel so displaced can only escape by passing through nozzles 93.

- Accordingly, provis1on of means, whereby the objectionable operating characteristics of previous devices of this character'are eliminated, is considered to be novel.

It should be understood, of course, that my novel valve construction may be, modified in its detail arrangement without departing from the broad scope of my invention. Thus, for" example, other and, different knowtn packing means may be employed to prevent leakage of the liquid fuel past the sliding joint between stem 148 and the inner portion of sleeve member 101 and/or past the sliding joint between the outside surface of 101 and body member 98. 1

What I claim is:

'1. A fuel-injecting valve device comprising a needle valve constructed and arranged to be lifted from its seat by the pressure action of the fuel which is to pass such valve, said device including a fuel supplying chamber which always contains a viscous fuel medium under maintained pressure, sai valve having a stem and-head portion in co bination with means for restricting the extent of valve lift, said means comprising a member d surrounding the stem of said valve and having an end portion constituting an abutment toengage said valve head and restrict the valve lifting movement, said end portion be-' ing axially adjacent the head portion of the valve, said end and head portion extending into said fuel supplying chamber, the aforesaid member which surrounds the valve stem being mounted for relative axial adjustment with respect to the valve for the purpose described. v

2. In afuel-injecting device of the character described and having a body member in communication with fuel-supply and fuel-interior annular portion co-axially disposed with respect to said stem portion and facing said valve seat and adapted to restrictively engage an abutting projection carried by said valve member and located within an interior fuel supply passage of said body member adjacent to said valve seat for the purpose of restricting the extent of axial movement of said valve member with respect to said valve seat.

3. In a fuel-injecting device of the character described and having a body member in communication with fuel-supply and fuelinjecting passages, a fuel valve member and,

a valve seat therefor interposed between said I supply and injecting passages, and means associated therewith for restricting the extent of lift of said valve, said means comprising a stationary sleevelike member, co-axially "disposed with respect to, and surrounding, a stemlike portion of said valve member and effecting a sliding joint therebetween, said sleevelike member having'its interior annularly-shaped end portion facing, and located within an interior fuel supply passage of said body member adjacent to,said valve seat and adapted to re'strictively engage an abutting PIOJGCtiOIl carried'by said valve for the pur-' poses set forth the aforesaid sleeve-like mem ber havin a threaded connection with the body mem er so that the relative position of the sleeve-like member may be adjusted with respect to the body member and to the Valve so that the valve lift may beadjused while theeng'ine is inoperation.

In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my signature.

JOSEPH o, GRQFF. 

